Military to Deliver Fuel to Storm-Ravaged Region

Published: November 2, 2012

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Of the region’s 127 fuel terminals — which hold gasoline, heating oil and diesel fuel after they are delivered by pipeline, ship or local refinery — 25 were hit by flooding or power failures. Most have reopened or are preparing to reopen shortly, the Energy Department said Friday.

Two refineries in the New York area remained out of service — most critically the Phillips 66 refinery in Linden, N.J., which could be out for weeks because of flooding. But the reopening of the Port of New York on Thursday, after the Coast Guard removed debris floating in the water, allowed tankers sitting off shore to begin making their deliveries.

New York City officials announced Friday afternoon that power should be restored to all of Manhattan by Saturday. Con Edison said it would restore power to a vast majority of its customers in New York State by Nov. 11, while Public Service Electric and Gas, which serves New Jersey, forecast that its efforts to restore power would be virtually complete in the next seven to 10 days.

These efforts will mean more gas stations reopening as power comes back on.

Despite the closed gas stations, and local instances of gouging, prices at the pump have not shot up in most places. AAA reported that the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in New Jersey on Friday was $3.56, only 6 cents above the national average. Some communities were imposing alternating fueling days for vehicles with license plates ending in even and odd numbers. The average price in New York was more than 25 cents higher, but still below $4.

Energy experts said their greatest fear had been that the storm would damage several large refineries on the Delaware River. But none were seriously affected, and about 75 percent of the region’s refinery capacity remained operational.

“Some of the refineries are down, but that shouldn’t be a problem, because the Northeast is supplied by pipelines and ships from other parts of the country and the world,” said Bill Day, a spokesman for Valero Energy, the country’s biggest independent refiner, with more than 100 branded gas stations in the Northeast. “Terminals, ports and pipelines are all affected by electricity outages, so once the electricity is back, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Even if the Phillips 66 refinery and the other, smaller New Jersey refinery were out of service for the rest of the month, the region could still get back to normal, energy experts said, because November does not typically have high driving volume.

“Our best guess is that things will be close to normal for consumers by Wednesday,” said Brian Norris of the Oil Price Information Service.